It was a sad moment in Smallville when Emmeline heard the news that Lana had been assaulted by three guys at the Talon. Things weren't much better when Clark was forced to do community service after hurting the jerks.

"Clark Kent, convict," Pete joked as Chloe pulled up in front of the Talon.

"Yeah, I know, when do you get fit for that orange jump suit?" Chloe asked. "Or is it one size fits all?"

"Forty hours of community service is not funny," Clark said as they got out of the car. "It's an orange vest."

Chloe started laughing. "Oh, no! It's gonna clash with the plaid!"

"Welcome to Smallville. Where you stop the crime, you do the time," Pete told the others.

Emmeline smiled at his joke, an action that did not go unnoticed by him.

The new sheriff stepped out of the Talon and smiled at them. "Very pithy," she said, having caught Pete's statement. "Maybe I should use that as my campaign slogan, huh?" She looked over at Clark. "Oh. We're gonna see you bright and early, Mr. Kent."

"I'm looking forward to it," Clark said politely.

"Yeah. Toodle-oo."

The sheriff walked away and Chloe and Pete started to walk inside. "Good luck on the chain gang," Chloe laughed. Lana passed them on her way out to set up some flowers on the window. "Hey."

"Hey," Lana said without her usual burst of cheer.

"Hey, Lana. What's wrong?" Clark asked.

Lana furiously turned to him. "According to the sheriff, I don't have a case that'll hold up in court. It's all hearsay."

Emmeline put her hand on her shoulder. "That really sucks."

"Yeah…At least you were there, Clark."

"Yeah. Look where it got me," Clark said sheepishly.

"Sorry." After a pause, she asked quietly, "So, how'd you do it, Clark? I mean, I know you can take care of yourself, but there were three of them."

"They were drunk. And I was highly motivated. I mean, the thought of someone hurting you…"

Emmeline began wondering if Clark would do the same thing for her. She knew that he cared about her, but did he care about her that much to get community service?

…Would Pete do such a thing for her?

"You can't keep your eye on me every second," Lana said to Clark.

"I can try."

"You're always there to save me. I just wish for once I could've saved myself."

Emmeline looked after her sadly as she went back inside the Talon, completely understanding how she felt.


The next day, Emmeline went to the Talon where she saw Clark picking up some trash with his bright orange vest on.

"Did anyone ever tell you orange isn't your color?" she smiled as she walked over to him.

"Only about 40 people from Smallville High so far," Clark answered with a thin smile.

Emmeline let out a small laugh. "I'm sorry. It doesn't seem very fair that you have to do this."

"Yeah, well, it gets worse. One of the guys is suing us."

"What? But he's the one who assaulted someone."

"With the amount of money he's suing us for, our farm could be history. I just tried to help someone, and now it's all blowing up in my face."

"I know. Don't worry. Everything will work out if we try hard enough. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a vanilla bean frappuccino calling my name."

Emmeline went inside the Talon to find Lex heading out after having a short conversation with Lana.

"What was that about?" she asked as she approached the counter.

Lana handed her her frappuccino all ready to go. Emmeline laughed at her preparedness. "He was talking to me about offering me a bit of help learning some self-defense. I guess I'm just so tired of being the pathetic little girl in trouble every five seconds. So I'm going to do something about it."

"Really?" Emmeline looked at her for a second. "Do you think…I could…join you?"

"What?"

"It's just that…after what happened with Greg, and then later with Pete, I want to know how to defend myself. Could I come with you?"

Lana smiled warmly. "Of course. I'm sure Lex would be happy to help you too."


That afternoon once Lana was done with her shift at the Talon, she and Emmeline headed over to the Luthor mansion dressed in their workout clothes.

"Emmeline," Lex said at the sight of another female. "I wasn't expecting you."

"I told her what you offered to do for me, and she wanted to join," Lana explained.

"I hope you don't mind, Mr. Luthor," Emmeline said quietly.

"No, of course not," Lex smiled. "Call me Lex. Come on over." Lex led them over to a punching bag. "You first, Lana."

Lana came over to him and he handed her some boxing gloves. Then he held the bag for her and she attempted to hit it several times with her fists.

After many failed attempts, she took a step back. "I can't even get the bag to move. I don't see how I'm supposed to take on a guy who's twice my size."

"Lana, getting the upper hand isn't about size. It's about decisiveness and speed. You have to commit." He got behind her and positioned her body into a fighting stance. "Look, right now you're only putting part of yourself into it. If you want to be effective, you have to put your whole body into it. Okay?"

"Okay."

Lana hit the bag again, and this time it moved a little bit.

"There you go. That's it. Now channel all your anger."

"Some of us aren't as angry as you are, Lex."

Lex held up his arms. "Of course not," he said smoothly as he went back over to hold the bag. "I mean, what's to be angry about? Hmm? It's not like a bunch of frat boys came into your own place and harassed you."

Lana hit the bag again with more force.

"It's not like you felt helpless when that guy shoved you."

She hit the bag twice, getting angrier and angrier with each punch.

"And I know it doesn't make you mad that you needed Clark Kent to save you again."

Lana hit the bag three times in a furious frenzy and then kicked it which made Lex have to take a step back at the force of it.

"Better," Lex smiled. "Alright, Emmeline. Your turn."

Emmeline traded places with Lana and hit the bag with a pathetic amount of force.

"Don't worry about me or Lana watching. Hit the bag as hard as you can."

She tried to hit the bag again with more force, but there wasn't a huge difference from the first time.

"You're concerned about what we're thinking. Forget about us. It's just you and this bag."

Once more, Emmeline tried to hit the bag, and though it was harder, it still wasn't going to do her any good in a real life situation. "This is hopeless," she lamented.

"That's what Lana thought and look where we ended up. Look, you're having the same problem. You need to channel your anger. And you have a lot to be angry about. I may not know you as well as Lana, but I do know a little about you from what I've heard around Smallville."

"What are you talking about?"

"Your mom got cancer. She didn't deserve to go through all that. Greg kidnapped you, and you couldn't do anything to stop him."

Emmeline hit the bag with much more force.

"You didn't talk to anyone until high school and were forced to be alone for all that time. Shyness is a curse."

She hit the bag again, feeling a fire rise up inside of her.

"If you weren't so quiet, maybe you could've stopped Greg and everyone else from hurting you. You let all that time go to waste because you were too afraid to talk to anyone."

Emmeline hit the bag over and over again and let out a loud scream as she punched the bag so hard, it hurt her knuckles, even with the gloves on.

Lex and Lana looked at each other and smiled. Shy little Emmeline wasn't so shy and little anymore.


Chloe and Emmeline bounded up the stairs to the loft where Clark sat looking at pictures of x-rays and other documents.

"What's up?" Chloe asked as they both sat down on the couch.

"Andy Connors is faking his injuries," Clark said bluntly.

"Well, that's an intriguing claim, but as the defendant, I doubt your case holds much water."

"Well, I…I followed him home. I saw him take his neck brace off. I was trying to gather some evidence on him so I could nail him."

"Well, you know I'm always up for a good conspiracy."

"Thanks, Chloe."

"Or if all else fails, we could send Lana or Em out to beat the confession out of him." Clark looked away from her, and Chloe realized she had struck a nerve. "It was a joke, Clark. Why do I get the feeling that you're not impressed with Lana and Em turning all Charlie's Angels on us?"

"I agree," Emmeline said. "After spending my entire life feeling weak and powerless, it's nice to know that I have some kind of way to defend myself."

"I know Lex's intentions are good," Clark said to her. "But what if either of you get overconfident and find yourselves in a situation you can't handle?"

Chloe looked at him. "Clark, as a 6-foot-…whatever guy, you have no idea what it feels like to have to cross the street at night when you hear footsteps behind you. If getting a little girl power makes Lana and Em feel like less of a victim, then you should be all for it."

"I guess."

"Or is it that you're secretly worried that if Lana learns to defend herself, she won't need a knight in shining armor to rescue her anymore?"

Clark looked at her with mock annoyance, but Chloe didn't back down from her statement.


"Hey, Em!" Lana greeted. "So, I've been looking into some karate classes ever since we went to Lex's. I thought you might be interested in taking some with me."

Emmeline picked up the brochure. "That would be awesome!"

"I feel so much better now. Don't you?"

"Definitely."

Clark stepped into the Talon looking worn out. "Smallville is officially litter free."

Lana laughed. "You must be exhausted."

"Well, frustrated and humiliated, yes. Exhausted, no. Hey, I can stick around for a little while if you want."

"I'm fine, Clark."

"I know. I just thought you might want some company." He picked up the brochure Emmeline had been looking at previously. "Karate class? I take it the meeting with Lex went well."

"Lex has a way of bringing out a side of us that's both scary and liberating at the same time."

"Well, you know the first rule of self defense is to avoid conflict."

"Relax, Clark, we're not about to go prowling the night fighting crime. We'll leave that to the expert."

"Well, you can trust me, there's no future in fighting crime unless you enjoy being sued." Lana looked at him guiltily. "You know what the worst part is? I know that he's faking. I just don't have proof. I was gonna follow him with a camera, but I'd be violating the restraining order."

"Well, what about me and Em?"

"What about you and Em?"

"We want to see him go down as badly as you do. Let us help."

"No, that'd be too dangerous."

"Clark, the law's not on our side. What are we supposed to do?"

Clark looked at the both of them, no viable answer for them. Emmeline knew that she wanted to take down Andy, but she wasn't exactly sure she was ready to fight with someone like him.


Emmeline met with Lana early in the morning at the Talon, and it wasn't long before Andy walked in after her.

"Thanks for coming," Lana said shortly.

"Well, this better be good to get me out of bed so early," Andy said with a smirk. "Who's your friend?"

Emmeline fought to hide her grimace. This guy was worse in person.

"Emmeline. Listen, Andy, um, I'm really sorry about what happened the other night, but I think this has gotten a little out of hand. The lawsuit?"

"Don't worry about it. It's Kent's problem."

"We know you're faking your injuries. I think you should drop the suit before you get caught."

Andy looked around for a second before picking up his cane and tossing it away. "You didn't call me here to talk about no lawsuit, did you?"

He reached for her, but Lana firmly slapped his hand away. "Touch me again, in fact touch either of us, and you'll have some real soft-tissue injury."

Andy just laughed. "You can play hard to get, but we both know you want me. I think both of you want me."

Emmeline scoffed. "Excuse me while I vomit." She had never said something like that to someone like Andy. It felt amazing.

Andy laughed again. "Well, why don't we take this into the back?"

He reached for Lana and Emmeline's shoulders, but Lana quickly pushed him away and grabbed his hand as she forced it into a painful position. Then Emmeline kicked him in the gut. As he bent over, Lana delivered an amazing spin-kick to his face which sent him sprawling into the table.

Lana and Emmeline looked at each other. They gave each other small smiles and high-fived.


"Em?"

Emmeline turned as she was about to get in her car. "Hi, Pete."

"I heard you and Lana gave Andy a real smack-down the other day."

"Yeah," she laughed lightly. "It felt…like the greatest moment of my life. To know that I have the power to make sure that I don't get hurt again is…amazing."

"I can imagine. I'm glad you feel safer."

"Pete…I know that you want things to be like they were. And…we're getting there. It's just… I need some time."

"I understand."

"Thank you…I'm sorry."

Emmeline quickly got into her car and drove off, watching Pete stand in the parking lot in her rearview mirror.